For the longest time it was really
difficult to track down insanely powerful, high CFM,
chop-off-your-fingers-they-spin-so-fast case fans for extreme cooling
applications. Heck, I pretty much have to crank up the volume on the head phones
I'm looking at the 92mm TD9238H spin away at 4800RPM on the desk in front of me.
The trade off comes at the fact that this 38mm thick case fan moves 119CFM -
that is a lot!

The two fans Vantec sent our way are both really powerful, really noisy, and
really freakin' cool. Aside from the coolness factor that comes with using 38mm
fans for case cooling or perhaps a heatsink fan upgrade, Vantec have gone full
out and set us up with all we need right from the start. The fans come in a
nifty looking box with two things that are important - special screws for
attaching the fans to the frame of an enclosure, and a special power connector
which has a RPM monitoring cable. Rather take the cheap way out and only supply
a Molex connector for power Vantec have added a one-wire three pin fan header so
your motherboard can monitor fan RPM if you like. Pretty cool indeed.

The smaller 80mm TD8038H fan (and I use the term small loosely) draws
0.75A, and the larger 92mm TD9238H fan draws a full Amp. That is a lot of power,
enough that it could even damage some motherboards so the Molex connector is
necessary. Anyway, the fans both use pass-through cables so it isn't a loss in
terms of connectors.

Using high-end Sunon fans with dual ball bearings the Tornado fans from
Vantec are covered by a LifeTime warranty, and more importantly, a wire mesh
gill. Considering the power and bite of the impeller motor assembly it would be
a pretty gory mistake to put a finger into the fan blades of the Tornado fans
while they were in operation!

By the way, the 80mm Tornado is perfect for the Alpha 8942 or Swiftech
MCX4000 if you ever wanted to upgrade to something with more kick!

Sound Level Measurements

To measure the level of sound produced by a fan in
decibels, we use an Omega HHSL1 sound meter. The HHSL1 is highly accurate
between a range of 35-130 dB. To measure the level of noise produced, the fans
were each placed on a Melamine foam surface and connected to a silent power
source. The HHSL1 sound meter was positioned about 12" above the fan and
slightly off to one side. The highest average level of noise was recorded. For
comparisons sake, we've include the test results from the Vantec Stealth series
of fans.

Vantec Tornado & Stealth
Fans

Model No.:

Size:

Amp:

Speed:

Air Flow:

Measured Noise Level:

TD8034H

80mm

0.75A

5700RPM

84 CFM

70.4 dB

TD9238H

92mm

1.00A

4800RPM

119 CFM

70.1 dB

SF6025L

60mm

0.08A

2600RPM

12 CFM

34.9 dB

SF8025L

80mm

0.10A

2050RPM

27 CFM

36.5 dB

SF9225L

92mm

0.07A

1750RPM

28 CFM

35.3 dB

Surprisingly, the level of noise each of these fans
generates under real world conditions is pretty consistent. Both the 92mm and
80mm Tornado fan were measured at just over 70 dB of noise from 12" away using
an Omega HHSL1 Sound Level Meter.

The bottom line here is pretty simple - the Vantec
Tornado fans are going to add a ton of extra airflow into your case and give you
that extra edge in total system cooling. Now just so we are clear, no fan will
solve all your cases cooling problems if the case doesn't have a place for all
that intake air to go. For the Vantec Tornado fans to do their work the case
must be able to exhaust just about as much air as it intakes - otherwise it will
just become pressurized and air will leak out of every crack and
crevice!

Noise is a given, but then again ultimate cooling
performance doesn't come for nothing. ;)